Combined water-tower and fire-escape.



B. MAGLIOGGA. COMBINED WATER TOWER AND FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1909.

I 1 003 9 7 v Patented Sept. 19,1911.

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W1 5 ES 2 11W 1v OR E. MA GLIOGGA. OOMBINED WATER TOWER AND FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION rum) MAY 2a, 1009.

1,003,967. Pa ented Sept. 19,1911.

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WITNES .16 & INVENTOR.

E. MAGLIOGGA. COMBINED WATER TOWER AND FIRE- ESCAPE.

' APPLICATION-LED MAY 29, 1909. 1,003,967. Pa ented Sept. 19,1911.

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nent parts to be hereinafter described and ERASMO MAGLIOCCA, OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINED WATER-TOWER AND FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of LettersIPatent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Application filed May 29, 1909. Serial No. 499,129.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EnAsMo MAGLIOGOA, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVoburn, in the county of Middlesex and State, of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Combined Water- Towers and Fire Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to portable combined water towers and fire escapes.

The object of my invention is to produce an extensible tower mounted upon a portable truck or platform adapted to be conveyed to a fire in a collapsed or compressed position, and to be erected or elevated by suitable gearing and tackle to the desired elevation to bring the platform upon the top thereof to the level of the fire in a burning building.

Another object thereof is to provide flexible ladders secured upon the upper ex tremity of the tower and anchored upon the platform of the truck upon which it is carried, and a further object thereof is to provide a flexible water hose connected with a discharge nozzle upon the upper platform of the tower.

A still further object of my invention is to provide suitable mechanism and tackle for quickly elevating said tower, fire escape lada ders and hose connections and for lowering and folding same upon the platform of the portable truck.

To these ends my invention includes the combinations and arrangements of compomore particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in which like reference numerals designate similar parts, Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional View thereof showing my tower elevated; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross section showing the tower lowered, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the truck. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the'tackle for elevating my tower.

My invention includes, generally, a truck mounted upon wheels having a main platform and a lower platform carried between the front and back wheels, an extensible and collapsible tower mounted upon the lower platform, the four sides of which comprise lazy-tongs or toggle-jointed frames, suitable gearing and tackle for extending and compressing said toggle-jointed frames, means for laterally inclining said tower when elevated, flexible ladders secured at one end upon the top of said tower and at their 0 posite ends upon reels or spools suitabl mounted upon the main platform of the truck, projecting arms upon the upper extremities of the jointed frames supporting blocks to accommodate ropes for raising and lowering life baskets, and leveling braces and anchors and lateral braces for the truck to afford ample foundation and support for the tower when elevated, and a flexible base communicating with a nozzle secured upon the upper platform of the tower adapted to be coupled with a water supply adjacent to the ground.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 designates a truck mounted upon wheels 2, comprising the shafts 3 and main platform 4 above said shafts.

Suspended upon the braced hangers 5, be-

tween and beneath the shafts 3, I provide the lower platform 6 upon which is mounted the adjustable base of my extensible tower 7, the upper platform being cut out above the lower one to permit the projection of the tower.

Centrally mounted upon the lower platform 6, I provide a bifurcated post 8, upon which is mounted transverse of the truck, the frame 9 comprising the upper and lower rods 10 and 11, respectively, which are con nected at their ends by the vertical rods 12 and 12. The upper rod 10 of said frame is provided with a central eye 13 which is pierced by a longitudinal shaft 15 mounted upon the main platform 4 of the truck, and the rod 10 and the shaft 14: pierce the lower joints of the jointed frame 15 hereinafter described and afford a fulcrum bearing for the erection of the frames constituting the tower.

The frame 9, being pivoted as described upon the longitudinal shaft 14, permits the lateral rocking of the tower thereon, and for the purpose of securing same in a vertical position or controlling its lateral adjustment, I provide a segmental ratchet plate 16 upon the lower rod 11 of the frame 9 which meshes with the cog 17 upon the longitudinal shaft 18 which is mounted upon the hangers 5 of the truck upon each end of which hand wheels 19 for turning same are provided.

My extensible tower 7 comprises the toggle jointed frames or lazy tongs 15, which as before described are fulcrumed upon the longitudinal shaft 14 and cross rod 10, the diagonal members of which are jointed at their outer ends and at their central intersections, and, as shown in the drawings, for the purpose of uniting the four sides thereof, the adjacent ends of the frame members are pivotally connected bythe clips 20 secured upon the alternate sectional members.

The upper members of the frames are of graduated lighter weight which assists in maintaining the equilibrium and proper distribution of the tensile strength of the structure. The upper members of the transversely arranged frames 21 and 22 extend beyond the joints 23 and 24, and have secured upon their extremities sheave blocks 25 to accommodate ropes 26 by which life baskets may be raised and lowered for the removal of persons from the upper stories of burning buildings.

Adjacent to the top of my tower, and between the frames 15, I suspend a plat-form 27 upon chains or metallic links 28 secured upon the upper oints thereof, and said platform is pierced centrally to accommodate ,:the nozzle 29 to which is coupled the flexible hose 30 which are shown coiled within 3Q the tower and secured upon the opposite sides thereof to conveniently fold same when the tower is collapsed.

For the purpose of expanding the ointed frames 15 and elevating the tower, I provide ropes 31, 32, 33 and 34, which are secured at one of their ends upon the drums 35 and 36 mounted upon the' main platform of the truck, and operated by winches 37 and 38,

respectively. The ropes 31 and 32 are attached to the longitudinally arranged frames, and 33 and 34 to those transverse of the truck, and are connected to the drums on the opposite side of the tower.

Ropes 31 and 32 pass from the drum 35 through the blocks A secured upon the lower platform and then loop through blocks B upon the lower ends of the longitudinally 's-arranged jointed frames and are anchored at their outer ends upon the lower platform at G on the opposite side of the tower from the drum and winch.

The ropes 33 and 34 are rigged to the s transversely arranged jointed frames, and are connected to the drum 36 and winch on the main platform of the truck on the opposite end from the drum before mentioned. Said ropes pass through blocks D on the filower platform, thence rope 33 passes through block E on one side of the lower platform, then loops through the blocks F upon the lower ends of the transversely arranged frames and is anchored at G upon the opposite side of the lower platform fromblock E. After passing through block D, rope 34 passes through block H at one side and on a line with the rear transverse frame, then loops through the blocks I on the ends of the rear transverse frame and is anchored on the lower platform at J.

It will thus be apparent, that when the ropes described are wound upon the drums, the ends of'the jointed frames will be contracted and the tower expanded and elevated, and when the tension thereon is released, the frames will collapse and fold upon the truck.

, Upon the forward and rear sides of the ftower 7, I attach flexible ladders 47 and 48, lone entl of which are secured upon the top jof the tower at 49, and the opposite ends gbeing wound upon the reels 50 and 51 mounted upon the main platform of the truck. Said ladders are adapted to be iwound upon the reels when the tower is colilapsed and to be elevated with the tower when it is raised and anchored at their lower Eends upon said reels, thus affording means ,for climbing to the platform of the tower, and for the use of-persons to descend when ?employed as a fire escape.

I It is essential to successful operation of jmy tower that the platform of the truck shall stand upon a level plane, and be ,rigidly anchored on the ground, and for ithis purpose I provide screw-threaded ad- :justable posts 52 mounted on each corner iof the main platform of the truck in the threaded sleeves 53. The upper ends of isaid posts are provided with wheels 54 to gfacilitate their operation. It will be apparient that by the adjustment of said posts, ithe platform of the truck may be placed gupon a perfect level and thus overcome the jirregular or sloping contour of the ground, ;and likewise be securely anchored in posie'tlOIl.

For the purpose of properly bracing the itruck against lateral strain of the tower Ewhen inclined, I provide arms 55 pivotally icarried upon the platform at 56 which are adapted to project to each side thereof, and are provided upon their outer ends with the vertically adjustable posts 57. When the arms are not in use, they may be folded longitudinally upon the side of the truck ,as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The construction and operation of my invention may be readily understood from the foregoing description and by reference to the accompanying drawings, and it will be appreciated that the parts and combinations thereof may be varied within a wide range from the specific exemplification it-hereof shown without departure from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention,

Ewhat I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patentis- 1. In combination with a truck, a colilapsible tower constructed of four sets of.

rectangularly connected lazy tongs, a platform carried by the upper links of two of said sets of lazy tongs, the upper ends of the remaining sets of lazy tongs extending above said platform carrying links being free and having pulleys attached thereto, cables operating on said pulleys, a basket carried by said cables and adapted to be raised to a level with said platform.

2. In combination with a truck provided with a main platform having an opening therein, a horizontal shaft mounted on said platform and crossing said opening, a tower pivotally mounted on said shaft, said tower being collapsible and constructed of four sets of rectangularly disposed lazy tongs, a

rocking rod pivotally mounted on said shaft and connected to two sets of said lazy tongs whereby said tower may be tilted.

3. In combination with a truck provided with a main platform having an opening Copies of this patent may be obtained for rod on said shaft connected to said tower, a frame on which said rod is mounted, a segmental rack on said frame whereby it may be oscillated, a lower platform, a bracket thereon adapted to support the central portion of said shaft, said bracket being bifurcated and adapted to act as a guide for said rocking frame, means for bracing said truck and means for raising said tower.

5. In combination with a truck provided with a main platform having an opening therein, a collapsible oscillating tower suspended within said opening, a shaft crossing said opening upon which said tower 1s fixedly mounted, means whereby said shaft may be rotated, said tower consisting of four sets of angularly disposed lazy tongs, a platform carried by the upper links of two sets of said lazy tongs, the remaining sets of lazy tongs extending above said platform and having means thereon whereby a cable operated basket may be raised to a level with said platform on said tower, a rotatably mounted nozzle on said platform on said tower, a hose spirally mounted within said tower and connected to said nozzle.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERASMO MAGLIOCOA. Witnesses N. P. MoKNEw, R. H. YOUNG.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

